It's a Girl!

Anna Katherine Behrens

3.64 kg. (approximately 8 lbs.)

55 cm. (approximately 22 in.)

08 May 2010 at 12:20 am

Here are some photos from our first twelve hours together. More photos to follow this week.

Our midwife Lina brings Anna to me for the first time as Paul calls family back in the States.

Dad holds Anna for the first time . . .

Oma holds Anna for the first time . . .

Daddy gives Anna a lecture on showing up late . . .

Happy Baby!

We'll add more photos as the week progresses. We are all doing well. Healthy Baby! Happy Mommy and Daddy!

Peanut's Room

Week 38. Peanut only has 2-4 weeks left in my tummy, so it was about time that all the nursery furniture arrived so we could put together a new space for Baby. We ordered everything about 5 months ago, so we patiently waited and waited. This past Wednesday I received a nice birthday present from the Mothercare shop in Pune stating that the last piece of furniture had arrived for pickup. Today, Paul and I finished putting together Peanut's nursery.

The room is white, though it looks green from the bamboo plants I put outside Peanut's window for some shade, but we decided to decorate everything using a yellow, green, and beige palette, and with an African safari and Rajasthani elephant theme. Yes, we have lots of photos on the walls from our actual trips to these far off places for Peanut to dream about while napping.

Here are some photos from the room . . .

Paul and I are pretty excited for Peanut's arrival as we are sure Peanut is getting excited to meet grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles along with its new friend Ryan that arrived on Friday!

Week 36

Week 36 . . . our ninth and last month. Only 4-6 short weeks until Peanut's big arrival in India. Paul and I have been getting the room ready and nesting a bit around the house. The remainder of the baby furniture should arrive sometime this week (hopefully!).

Peanut and I are doing well. We are keeping up with our morning walks and yoga exercises. No strange cravings right now . . . except for citrus juice and anything sour. I can still manage to wear my wedding band and the heat has not turned my ankles in 'cankles.' I consider this pretty fortunate since the heat is already in the upper 90's which is quite high for March. April should be a very hot month.

Things continue to go pretty smoothly here in Pune. Nothing new to report.

Week 32

Week 32 . . . only 8-10 weeks to go! Baby Behrens and I are doing well, I suppose we are just trying to survive the heat. Today, the temperature reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit! It's going to be a steamy two months for this pregnant lady.

The cravings have begun . . . we currently like fresh strawberry milkshakes, lemon bars, grapefruit juice . . . and of course lots of chocolate! Paul and I have begun to try and get the house organized for Peanut's arrival.

Week 28

Today, we begin our 28th week of pregnancy and the beginning of the third trimester. We are beginning to get a little excited for Peanut's arrival at the end of April. Last week, we had one final anomaly scan to make sure that Baby is developing well, and everything has checked out. We also learned that Peanut weighs 1.2 kg or 2 lbs. 9 oz. Below is a photo we saw at the ultrasound with Baby smiling as the Dr. Kulkarni took a snapshot, then Peanut turned its head and began sucking on its thumb. Dr. Kulkarni also pointed out that Baby has very large feet. . . as you will see below! We guess Peanut will take after it's Mama with her huge size 10 feet . . . Papa does not have quite as large feet with respect to his size.

Paul and I are doing well. Peanut has been kicking me constantly and making me crave lots of chocolate. We also enjoy our morning walks and gym exercises together, but Peanut especially likes prenatal yoga. Peanut loves when I do my 'cat and cow' and 'downward facing dog' poses as Peanut will again starting turning as well as kicking my insides! Paul and I also have been attending prenatal classes at Jehangir, which have been great and also helpful in preparing us for the Baby's arrival. Last week, we were able to watch a recorded natural birth without any interventions, which we found amazing and not nearly as scary as I remembered from my Women's Health class at Michigan. Below is a belly snap for week 28.

Now it's time for dinner in India . . . stuffed green peppers and carrot cake! Yum-O!

Week 24

We are at week 24 . . . the beginning of our sixth month. Things are going pretty well here in India. No complaints, really. Aside from my belly continuing to grow, everything remains the same from last month.

Here is a photo at the Taj on week 23 . . .

Here is the belly pic for week 24 . . .

Peanut, me, and Paul are all doing fine--just continuing daily life in Pune.

Week 20

We're halfway done! I am also showing considerably compared to last month. I seemed to have "popped" out in the last few days. Peanut had its big scan today. Everything is normal and Peanut is growing according to schedule. However, Peanut was taking a nap and refused to turn during the scan so we have no nice profile photos to share, but we have posted two that are decent and they are below. Instead, we have two photos in which Peanut looks like Skeletor. For everyone who keeps asking about the gender, "No, we do not know!" We do not know for three reasons-- a.) it is illegal to learn the gender of the baby during an ultrasound in India, b.) Paul and I do not want to know, and c.) there was no way we could tell even if we wanted to during the scan. We will have one more scan at month 7 to chart the growth, and hopefully the baby will have more room in my tummy to turn a bit. . . it was pretty tight maneuvering inside today. Peanut did give us a thumbs up sign and wave during the scan.

This month has been pretty good. I am still feeling pretty energetic. No weird cravings other than beef and salmon....hmm....and Nutella sometimes!

Ok, after many requests, here are the only two decent photos of Peanut from the ultrasound. Peanut sleeping from behind.

And Peanut laying with the face towards my belly. If Paul and I read this correctly, Peanut is going to have my large eyes and Paul's big forehead. ;-)

Week 16

Today marks the 16th week of pregnancy for Paul and I. We are both doing well. I have gotten my energy back and I am back into all my old routines, such as the gym and yoga. The narcolepsy seems to be fading as well. Still craving yogurt, fish, salad, pineapple, and eggs. However, recently I have begun to crave spicy food. In particular, tomato and onion uttapa with sambhar and coconut chutney--don't forget the extra green chilies please! Not sure why...but this always sounds good for lunch!

I felt the first signs of quickening on Saturday night. Paul and I were watching The Reader and I could not get comfortable. I kept squirming all of the couch and was attributing it to some indigestion from dinner. Then, all of the sudden I realized that the feeling that was driving me crazy were "butterflies in my stomach." We talked to all our other pregnant friends and realized that feeling along with the low back pain confirmed Peanut's movements.

And we are now off to Cambodia on Thursday!

Peanut Behrens

Surprise! . . . We're Preggers! ;-) I'm 12 weeks finishing up the first trimester, while as you will see from Paul's photo below, he's further along in his pregnancy.



Who knew that 3 weeks ago, at 9 weeks, Peanut Behrens would really resemble a 'peanut.' Indeed, there was a peanut in my belly 3 weeks ago with a strong heartbeat and moving so quickly that it appeared as though Peanut was dancing the tango or practicing for a gymnastics meet.

Today, we got to see Peanut at 12 weeks. The screen was not facing me, so I did not get to see Peanut's dance moves, but Paul states for the record that it was moving its hands and arms around to some funky beat. Also, the heartbeat was audible today which was amazing to hear. Below you can see a good profile of Peanut's head, its hand close to its mouth, along with its Buddha-belly.
I am feeling pretty good. The nausea is over and the cravings have begun. I have the oddest healthy cravings. All I want to eat is chicken, yogurt, boiled eggs, veggies, fruit, fresh lime soda, and Jell-O. Yes, there's me below with a tiny bump today.

Paul has been having some cravings lately as well. He likes to eat ... hmmm ... well let's just say he enjoyed all the sausages, spatzle, and Weiss bier at Oktoberfest this weekend. See Paul below in his undetermined pregnancy stage.

The Behrens family is currently doing well. We are expecting Peanut to arrive around April 27th, but we still are not sure if the baby will be born at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor or at Jehangir Hospital in Pune. Paul and I will be sure to keep everyone posted once we have made our decision.